DNA tests on evidence used to convict a former sailor of the brutal murder of a barmaid showed he was not the killer, appeal court judges have ruled.

Michael Shirley, from Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, was freed from prison earlier this month after spending 16 years behind bars for a crime he had always denied.

On Tuesday, three senior judges at the Court of Appeal gave their reasons for clearing Mr Shirley of the rape and murder of Portsmouth barmaid Linda Cook in 1986.

At last month's appeal hearing, Lord Justice Laws, sitting with Mr Justice Mitting and Mr Justice Gage, were presented with scientific evidence which the defence said indicated DNA found at the scene could not have been Mr Shirley's.

'Unsafe conviction'

Lord Justice Laws agreed on Tuesday, saying there was nothing relied upon by the prosecution to "dispel the very strong probability that there was only one male contributor to the DNA found in intimate samples taken from the victim".

He said if that was accepted, Mr Shirley "cannot have been that contributor".